By Charlotte Hsu

Published Tuesday, April 1, 2008 | 9:45 a.m.

Updated Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008 | 2:14 p.m.

In January, Bill Boldt, UNLV’s vice president for advancement, said he hoped to nail down candidates for five crucial fundraising jobs by the end of that month.

That didn’t happen.

At the time, administrators were searching for development officers for five departments — the hotel college, student life, the dental medicine school, the law school and the college of education.

So far, only two hires have been made — those for the hotel and student life units. The delays are a setback for UNLV, which is in the final year of a seven-year campaign to raise $500 million.

Boldt said he now hopes to fill the remaining positions by April 15.

Development officers publicize the achievements of university departments and work with donors to secure gifts.

“The demand for qualified fundraising professionals has never been higher,” he said. “The problem is that universities do not train people. There’s only one or two programs in the country ... where students are trained in philanthropic studies."